The sun was shining brightly, as Leigh was laid out on the grass of a hill close to the big mountain walls.
There were no deep thoughts going on in his head, nor any superficial ones. All he did was just stare in wonder at how nature built the big walls of the mountain. And walls they were, as they surrounded his entire village, making the village a valley in the mountains. The mountains stretched far into the clouds, and for some reason every time Leigh would try to climb them, he would always find himself climbing back down.
In fact, there was no path that could lead you out of the village. There was one, but it was filled with dense fog, and just like climbing up the mountain, if you walked it you would just find yourself coming back to the village.
"Say Adamas.", Leigh suddenly said, "Do you think there is something outside of our village?"
Adamas was one of Leigh's closest friends, and unlike the rest of his friends, Adamas had the same tendency as Leigh to slack off, if not more. As such, if you could find Leigh escaping his duties somewhere, you would always find Adamas right beside him.
"Huh? Isn't the village all there is?", Adamas replied in return.
Adamas was a simple creature. As a 19 years old young man, all he had to do was lift the heavy stuff when his duties called for it, and train when it was time to train. For this brown haired and brown eyed boy, his big and muscular 1m92 tall body was more than suited. This coupled with his square jaw resulted in an imposing figure.
Next to him, the 1m76 tall Leigh looked like a gust of wind could blow him away because of his lean body, even though they were the same age. However, to underestimate this black haired boy because of his build would be unadvised, for the moment you look into his silver eyes, you would realize there is more than meets the eye.
"I don't think the village is all there is Adamas.", Leigh continued, "What if th.."
Before Leigh could finish his sentence, the duo heard an angry voice from afar.
"Leigh! Adamas! How many times do I have to come and get your asses to work!"
If it was anyone else, they could have just run away or played dumb, but to their despair, it was Kita.
She was one of the fastest runners in the village, and even if you were far away, she would chase your ass to the depths of hell if she had to. She was also one of Leigh's close friends, but that wouldn't prevent her from doing what came next.
"Kita wait, I can explain", Adamas said as fear spilled from his eyes. Next to the herculean Adamas, the small, red haired Kita looked like a cute kitten aside from her athletic body, but reality was often surprising.
Adamas was too late as Kita's fist already came down on his head.
Just as Adamas wanted to call Leigh for help, he saw from the corner of his eyes that Leigh was trying to make his escape. Shock and betrayal, but most of all, understanding was written on Adamas' face, as he would've definitely done the same if it involved Kita.
"And where do you think you're going?!", Kita roared as she pounced on Leigh.
After several introductory punches later, Leigh and Adamas were on their knees awaiting Kita's speech, but to their surprise, she kept it short.
"Although I really want to give you guys a piece of my mind, we really need to get to work now. The great storm that came to our village the other day really trashed a lot of houses, so right now we need every hand that can help.", and with that said, Kita let them both get up and started to make her way back to the village.
The guys got up, looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, then followed her.
They were currently at the northern border of the village, and although it was called a village, it was 1210 km² big. Homes and farming lands were everywhere, the center of the village had the training grounds and the city hall, at the west border there was a giant water well where the village got its water from.
Making their way back would take 10 minutes if they ran hard enough, which was exactly what Kita made them do.
On their way back, they passed by the torn buildings and ruined farms. Houses that stood tall for a long time were now laying in pieces on the ground, but despite all this, the people of the village weren't bothered by it.
"Are the children safe?", is the first question they ask. That's the most important thing to look out for, instilled in them since they were old enough to understand. "As long as the children are fine, we are fine."
Seeing the little kids play with the broken bricks, building little houses and having fun, relief and joy filled the eyes of Leigh, Adamas and Kita.
Leigh and Adamas began to feel a little bit guilty about slacking off, but al that went out the window the moment they reached their destination.
"Adamas! Go get 3 large wooden beams and 1 large stone pillar from the shed!"
"Leigh, get me 20 small wooden beams and then come help me build up this wall here!"
The moment they arrived, the carpenters preyed on them like wolves on sheep, and made them repay the time they took off with extra work.
One had to know that a small wooden beam weighed 20kg, and a large one weighed 100kg. A stone pillar weighed 200kg!
With tears in his eyes, Leigh carried 5 small beams to their destination, while his thoughts wandered back to the question he asked to Adamas.
Is there really nothing else other than this village? But if that's the case, where do the clouds go when they pass the mountains? Where does the moon hide during the day?
Riddled with these questions, Leigh looked over on Adamas' side to see what he was doing, and saw him to no surprise carrying the 3 large beams and the stone pillar to their destination.
Adamas came from the Kowa family, known for their overwhelming strength, and being the right hand men to the Emrys family, house of the chief of the village.
In this world, there is only 1 way to attain strength, by accumulating the energy of the world, known as mana, into your body and strengthening yourself in the process, but even then, you wouldn't be able to achieve what the Kowa can achieve.
Every human is born with a certain number of accumulation points in their body, and depending on the number, you can attain a different level of strength. According to the elders of the village, everyone here has a maximum of 64 accumulation points in their bodies, while the 5 big families can have up to 72 points.
You start your road of strengthening by accumulating energy in 1 accumulation point of your choosing, then move onto the next one you choose. For every point that is completely filled, your body experiences a boost in mana output, which can be used in different ways. Accumulation points in the arms or legs can boost the strength of your arms or legs respectively, while a formation of accumulation points in your abdomen creates the ability to cast the big range spells a mage uses.
The most important point though, is that although the big families have the same maximum number of accumulation points, their placement in the body is different in every family, explaining the difference in aptitude for physical strengthening and magic casting.
The Kowa have more accumulation points in their limbs than other people, making them more apt to perform strength feats no one else at the same level can do. The downside is that they are less capable of casting magic.
To make matters worse for Adamas, he was born with all 72 points! The first in generations of his family, and because of that, they are working him to the bone right now.
Feeling bad for the misfortune befalling his friend, Leigh continued on with carrying the beams, until suddenly he saw Kita running up to him again.
Afraid that she came to hit him because he was working slowly, he instinctively put up his arms to protect his head.
But her punches never came.
"Leigh.. the chief has summoned you.", Kita said with a trembling voice, not knowing that what she would say next would change a lot of things.
"We have visitors."